


The Gift

by Lux Remanet (orphan_account)



Series: Lights in the sky [3]
Category: Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XIII Series, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, written pre-release
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-05
Packaged: 2018-02-11 21:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2083785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Lux%20Remanet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Don't shake it."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gift

"What's with that face? I said I'd get you something didn't I?"

Noctis continued to eye the rectangular box that had been shoved into his hands with distaste.  

"Bet you're wishing I hired those strippers now, don't you?" Prompto said with a snicker.

"You got me jewelry."  Noctis stated, tone flat.

"So?"

He looked over at Prompto leaning on the balcony railing beside him, presently in the middle of lighting up.

_flick-flick-flick_

"Hey." Noctis held the box in front of his face. "I told you not to get me anyth-"

"It's not jewelry," Prompto cut in, tucking away his lighter. "The box is borrowed. Don't shake it," he added when Noctis prepared to do just that.

"Does it come with a receipt at least?"

Prompto smiled and purposefully took a long drag. He stared into the night as he exhaled and flicked away the ash.

"Well?" 

"For us men, hanging around a jewelry store is a dating hazard." Prompto said.  "Sends the wrong message--you know how people get."

"Especially the girlfriend," Noctis quipped, smirking. "How long has it been? Five, six years now?"

" _Smartass_." Prompto laughed, shoving him.  "Your turn will come soon enough."

"Don't hold your breath," Noctis muttered, popping the lid open. Inside the box a rose-shaped crystal was nestled among the velvet. "What the..." he looked over at Prompto for an explanation.

Prompto smiled and pointed at the flower with his cigarette. " _That_ , your royal _assness_ , is an eidolith. Straight from the Paddra temples on Gran Pulse, it is one of _eight_ left in the world and  _very_  expensive. One buyer at the auction even  _emphatically_ insisted it had been lost to his family 'for generations past' and blah blah blah. "

"So you bought it just to piss him off," Noctis surmised. "Fantastic.  So, who can my father expect to come threatening Lucis with war in exchange for its return?"

"It's said to possess limitless power," Prompto said, ignoring him. "I thought it might help you with your powers. _Buuut_ if you don't want it..."

"I didn't say that," Noctis side-stepped his grasp with a smirk.    While Prompto took another drag he turned the box this way and that.  Light from the lanterns overhead refracted among the crystal's facets, giving off a pink glow.   

_It's almost like it's...alive, somehow…_

"What did Cor have to say about it?" he asked. "There's no way he'd let something like this go unnoticed."

Prompto shrugged and started making smoke rings in the air.

"Prompto."

The latter remained quiet.

"Prompto."

"What."

"He doesn't know, does he?

"He doesn't  _have_  to know."

"Why? Is this thing a dud?" It was the only reason Noctis could think of for Cor deciding to let the matter slide.

"No it definitely works," Prompto grinned, Cheshire cat-like. " _No_ doubt about that."

"Why all the secrecy then?" Noctis asked.

"Duh, because I stole it."

"You…stole it," Noctis repeated, expression blank.   _I should have expected as much._ Prompto began to saunter away now. "Prompto," he called. The other man paused in the doorway.

"Well, stole it  _back,_ more accurately," said Prompto. "The Odin edolith was a long lost treasure of Lucis, after all."

"It is?" Noctis looked at the crystal with renewed interest.

"It pays to be awake in class y'know," Prompto called over his shoulder.  

"It also pays to be _present_ ," Noctis retorted, earning a laugh from the latter.  He turned his attention back to the crystal.  "Let's see what we've got to work with..." _  
_

**. . .**

"Heightened powers my ass," he scoffed minutes later, leaning back against the railing on the mezzanine floor while he turned the crystal over in his hands. Half an hour had come and gone and nothing had happened: no ominous glowing, no sudden power surge-- _nothing_. "To think that the bullshit about the edolith being a 'lost treasure' really had me going."

"Is  _that_  what people are calling it?," a female voice scoffed beside him, making him jump.

"Fuck!" He just managed to catch the crystal before the ground did, and right in the same movement glared up at the woman who had caught him unawares, taking note of her appearance as clinically as a police officer drawing up a wanted poster. 

_Pale blue eyes, paler skin, pink hair, dressed in a white…_

Her eyes were wide, as if she had somehow been more surprised by his reaction. 

"Nightgown," Noctis laughed humorlessly, unable to contain his incredulity any longer. "Did you _literally_ have nothing to wear?" 

She continued to stare at him, that look of awe beginning to grate on his nerves.

"I think you should go." Noctis told her, politely but firmly. "No one's allowed up here except family."

The woman only placed a delicate hand over her mouth in response.  She took a step toward him.  He immediately took two steps back.

"Erm...I don't do autographs, sorry."

"You…really can see me?"

Noctis mentally facepalmed.

A ghost.

Right, well. That explained her outfit then…

…at his even more ridiculous '20's Gangster-themed birthday party.

He walked over to the nearest bench and collapsed onto it with a groan. Prompto had gotten him a _ghost_  for his birthday.

"As if I don't have enough…" he trailed off, noticing her looking at him pressingly, like whatever she had to say was more important. "What?"

"If it's all the same to you, may I…" she indicated to the space beside him with her hand.

"You look like you're already decided on sitting anyway."  _And haunting me._

"Thank you."

He waited for her to float gracefully onto the bench, and then quickly shuffled over to create more space between them. Silence stretched long and uncomfortably.

"I'm Lightning," she said, awkward.

"Noctis."

"I'm attached to the edolith in your hand."

"Explains the pink."

She pursed her lips at the remark, but did not pursue it.  "You know, you're one of the first people who've ever been able to…I wonder if..." she leaned forward, raising a hand. Realizing her intention he quickly shifted to the edge of the bench. The pink-haired ghost frowned.  

"No offense, but my powers don't work that way," Noctis explained, as calmly as he could.  "Or at least, I'm sure they don't.  Ghosts grab at me like I'm some kind of a life raft and the sensation of them passing through's a bit nauseating, to say the least."

"Sorry," she muttered, quickly staring at her lap, pale cheeks turning pink. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I forget. It's just been so long…"

"How does someone forget that they're dead?" Noctis laughed. 

She looked up at him and smiled.  "Well, I suppose a person can perhaps in the smallest and  _briefest_  measurement of time; that is, somehow  _forget_  they are dead if they  _remember_  what it's like to be alive?"

"Let me get this straight," Noctis said, trying to keep a straight face. " _You_  wanting to touch a  _total_  stranger in the forehead made you  _remember_  what it's like to be...alive?"

She shook her head.  "I was talking about finally being able to interact with another human being after all these…" she paused contemplating it, then shook her head. "How embarrassing. I don't even know how long it's been, and that just makes it worse. But being able to talk to someone again I…I don't think I've never felt so happy. Which is kind of ironic: I never really had the inclination to initiate contact in the past.  _That's_  what it's like for me to remember."

"Glad I asked." 

"Hey can I ask a favour of you? It's just…well you're the only one who can see me and—"

Oh he was  _soo_  going to get back at Prompto for this.  _There should be a law against that idiot getting presents._ Last year he had gotten a poisonous scarab beetle and the year before that a cursed rabbit's foot _._ If he knew Prompto (and unfortunately he did), then this wasn't any ordinary ghost. Prompto meant well, but Noctis often wished he would just  _tell_ him what made his presents so useful to him and why the hell he thought a _ghost_ was a good present. This constant need of Prompto's for Noctis to do his homework was borderline obsession and frankly pissed him off.

 _Homework_ , Noctis thought reluctantly. Homework always meant a trip to the Library. Or kissing up to Ignis, that stuffed shirt. 

"Hey," said the ghost, interrupting his reverie.  "I must be holding you up. If you want to return to the party, you can, I don't mind. It's your birthday, isn't it?"

"I originally came here to  _escape_  the party."  Noctis replied,trying to massage out the sudden migraine in his head. _W_ _hy do I feel drained all of a sudden? "_ "I didn't even drink that much," he said to himself.

"I think I might have an idea."

Noctis chuckled.  "Well I _doubt_ it could help, but it's not like I can stop you so the floor's all yours."

Lightning gestured at him.  "Given that your eyes changed color the moment you touched the edolith, perhaps if you…"

" _What_?" Noctis hand flew up to his forehead. He'd been using it the entire time? He closed his eyes and tried to make himself relax, taking deep breaths. A few moments later he opened them.

Lightning, who had impassively been watching him the entire time, shook her head. He started to close his eyes again—

"I can help you."

Noctis narrowed his gaze at her, cynical. 

"So you're okay with being able to talk to a ghost attached to a powerful magical crystal, but you have reservations about it being able to assist you." Lightning stated, tone flat.

Noctis crossed his arms. There had to be a catch.   _There's always a catch._   "What do you want in return?"

"To be set free."

 _Figures,_ Noctis thought. "But it's no simple spell, is it?"

She smiled. "Perhaps a lot simpler than being able to control your powers."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"Do you trust your doctor?"

Now it was his turn to smile. "You're not my doctor."

"No, but I can help you." Noctis laughed scornfully at this. "I  _can."_

"You've seen the light, haven't you?  You've been to the Unseen, Valhalla."

" _Briefly_ ," Noctis muttered.

"And you didn't come back the same.  Something came back with you; that power you're struggling to understand.  Had your soul lingered in Valhalla for a moment longer than necessary you would have passed on."

"Your point?"

"As someone... _stuck_ there, I understand it perfectly.  More importantly I can _teach_ you."  Lightning's tone was soft, but there was underlying resolve and an aura of dignity about it that Noctis couldn't help but respect. He found himself nodding. He had nothing to lose.

"You're on."

She rose out of her seat and moved to stand in front of him, holding out delicate pale hands just a few centimeters from the sides of his head.

Noctis tried not to squirm. Ghost or no ghost, he really wasn't comfortable with the proximity.

"Close your eyes," she instructed.

Reluctantly he did, though only because of the fact that guests respected and feared his father enough to stay downstairs.

 _I must look like a moron sitting out here in the dark,_ he thought. "What are you doing?"

"We're going to start tomorrow when you're fully rested. For now I'm going to help deactivate your powers by making you relax. Your friends must be missing you by now and from what I've heard you have quite a number of admirers."

"I  _am_  relaxed," Noctis said, ignoring that last part.

"No you're not."

"And how do you know that?"

She laughed quietly.  "For one I'm invading your personal space."

"And two?"

"Two, Odin's Eye allows me to perceive the flow of energy throughout your entire body. From what I can see, much of it is concentrated here in the optic nerves, because of your powers causing strain on your eyes. It's why your head hurts. You can't deactivate it because it's currently triggered by your emotions. But we can cheat."

"Cheat _._ " Noctis repeated incredulously.

"It's quite technical so it's much easier if I show you. You'll notice what happens afterward. All I have to do is…" Noctis felt a sudden, tingling sensation on his temples. Surprise and disbelief made him jump up and open his eyes just as the pain in his head alleviated.

The ghost had touched him.

"H-How did you…" he trailed off, seeing only an empty space in front of him.  He stood there in stunned silence for a long moment.  

"Yo Noct!" Gladiolus' voice boomed from the stairwell.  "Where are you man?"

"Over here!" Noctis called, striding toward it.  A smile spread across his face as he tucked the box into his breast pocket.   

_'Lightning', huh._

**-tbc-**


End file.
